Old Combine Turned Into Playground
An old Deere combine has been retired to a rather pleasant job. Instead of ending up at a salvage yard, happy, screaming kids now climb all over it and come sliding out the back. The combine playground is part of the entertainment package at Round Hill Farm in Culpeper, Va., where the Faulconer family holds a Pumpkin Festival in October. They sell pumpkins and offer hayrides, corn mazes and a petting zoo.
The combine playground was introduced in 2009. Eric Faulconer explains that his family regularly adds new features to their operation. When they were offered a free combine, they bought a $4,500 slide to fit the combine's angles and dimensions ù and to match the Deere yellow paint.
Faulconer and three farm employees cut out the augers and shellers and other parts to make room for the slide. They built solid stairs and picket-style railings with support posts mounted on concrete pads. They removed part of the cornhead to create a bench, where visitors can have their photos taken.
"We disconnected all the gears and pinched the hydraulic steering line. We staked blocks with rebar behind and in front of the tires so it can't roll," Faulconer notes.
When they are open for business the cab door is chained open so kids won't pinch there fingers and can climb in and out freely.
By the time it was finished and professionally painted, it cost just under $9,000, but it should be around for years.
So far it's been a hit. The kids love playing on it and it looks so good some adults asked if Deere made it. Faulconer says photos of the combine have been showing up on internet photo pages. His family is already thinking about another big attraction ù possibly something using an old truck.
Check out the Round Hill Farm website, which will be available later this summer.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Round Hill Farm, 6346 Everona Rd., Culpeper, Va. 22701 (ph 540 308-0981; www.round-hill-farm.com).
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Old Combine Turned Into Playground COMBINES Conversions 34-5-2 An old Deere combine has been retired to a rather pleasant job. Instead of ending up at a salvage yard, happy, screaming kids now climb all over it and come sliding out the back. The combine playground is part of the entertainment package at Round Hill Farm in Culpeper, Va., where the Faulconer family holds a Pumpkin Festival in October. They sell pumpkins and offer hayrides, corn mazes and a petting zoo.
The combine playground was introduced in 2009. Eric Faulconer explains that his family regularly adds new features to their operation. When they were offered a free combine, they bought a $4,500 slide to fit the combine's angles and dimensions ù and to match the Deere yellow paint.
Faulconer and three farm employees cut out the augers and shellers and other parts to make room for the slide. They built solid stairs and picket-style railings with support posts mounted on concrete pads. They removed part of the cornhead to create a bench, where visitors can have their photos taken.
"We disconnected all the gears and pinched the hydraulic steering line. We staked blocks with rebar behind and in front of the tires so it can't roll," Faulconer notes.
When they are open for business the cab door is chained open so kids won't pinch there fingers and can climb in and out freely.
By the time it was finished and professionally painted, it cost just under $9,000, but it should be around for years.
So far it's been a hit. The kids love playing on it and it looks so good some adults asked if Deere made it. Faulconer says photos of the combine have been showing up on internet photo pages. His family is already thinking about another big attraction ù possibly something using an old truck.
Check out the Round Hill Farm website, which will be available later this summer.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Round Hill Farm, 6346 Everona Rd., Culpeper, Va. 22701 (ph 540 308-0981; www.round-hill-farm.com).
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